Field
The present disclosure relates generally to a semiconductor device, including a semiconductor device that is configured and arranged as a one-time programmable (OTP) memory.
Background Art
In the field of data storage, there are two general types of storage devices. The first type is volatile memory in which stored information is lost when power is removed. The second type is non-volatile memory in which the information is preserved after the power is removed. There are a few different non-volatile memory technologies in the market today. The main ones include mask read only memory (ROM), floating gate, electrical fuse, and antifuse among others. Certain programmable logic devices (PLDs), such as structured application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) to provide an example, use antifuse technology to configure logic circuits to create a customized integrated circuit (IC) from a standard IC design. Antifuse technology may also be used in the field of chip IDs, security keys, memory redundancy, and MCU code memory, to provide examples.
An antifuse is an electrical device that changes from a high resistance to an electrically conductive path. The antifuse may be formed using a conventional complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) logic foundry technology, and the antifuse represents a one-time programmable (OTP) memory, because the change from the high resistance to the electrically conductive path in the antifuse is permanent and irreversible. The programming typically involves applying a programming voltage that exceeds a certain specified voltage to the antifuse to essentially “blow” the antifuse to form the electrically conductive path.
The present disclosure will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, generally, like reference numbers indicate identical or functionally similar elements. Additionally, generally, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the drawing in which the reference number first appears.